Ordinance would settle shredding lawsuit with Christian, lawyers for $100K

Wednesday

Nov 27, 2013 at 10:45 AMNov 27, 2013 at 5:52 PM

By Dan Petrella

Staff Writer

Springfield Mayor Mike Houston has filed an ordinance to settle a lawsuit over the destruction of police internal affairs records for a little more than $100,000.

Calvin Christian III sued in May after the city destroyed documents he had requested under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.

Under the proposed settlement, which the city council is scheduled to vote on Tuesday, Christian would receive $30,000, while his attorneys would get a total of nearly $73,000. The ordinance is up for emergency passage, which means it will require the support of eight out of 10 aldermen to pass.

Although the draft ordinance admits “a portion of the records were destroyed prior to being released,” the city would not be admitting any liability and would be released from “all past, present and future claims.”

Despite saying in an email last week that he would be able to discuss the matter once the ordinance was filed with the city clerk’s office, Houston on Wednesday declined a request to answer questions about the settlement.

“The settlement details are clear in the ordinance text. It states who gets what monies from the settlement and dismisses the case and all future liabilities by all parties,” Houston said in an emailed statement. “Since it is subject to approval by the City Council, I have been advised not to discuss it further.”

Christian also said he could not speak in detail about the proposed settlement until it’s official.

“It is now up to the city council,” he said. “Once it is approved by the city council, then I will be able to go into more about it.”

Who’s accountable?

Ward 1 Ald. Frank Edwards initially said he thought the council would approve the settlement, but he later added that having to clear the higher hurdle for emergency passage makes its prospects less clear.

“If they had just let it work its normal course, they would have had a better shot,” Edwards said.

If the measure fails the first time around, it will allow the issue to “sit and simmer for two weeks” before it comes up for a vote for normal passage, he said.

Aldermen will have to weigh their fiduciary responsibilities against the need to hold accountable those who were involved in the destruction of the records Christian requested, Edwards said, adding that if the council doesn’t approve the settlement, the city would be on the hook for legal bills of an unknown amount.

The city already has spent about $32,000 defending itself in the case, spokesman Nathan Mihelich said.

Christian’s lawsuit sought $365,000 in damages plus attorney fees.

Edwards said the public still deserves to see those who took part held accountable for their actions.

“Name me one person that has,” he said, noting that Police Chief Robert Williams was allowed to retire and top city attorney Mark Cullen was allowed to resign on their own accord.

Williams signed an agreement with the police union that allowed internal affairs records to be destroyed a year early, and Cullen gave the final legal OK to proceed with the destruction, records show.

Leaves ‘bad taste’

Among the records that were destroyed was the internal affairs file of Deputy Chief Cliff Buscher. The city admitted in a court filing in August that officials “willfully and intentionally failed to comply” with Christian’s request for Buscher’s file, which contained information about a 2008 incident during which he fired his service weapon while drunk on a family fishing trip with other police officials, and agreed to pay a $5,000 civil penalty.

In a sworn testimony given as part of the case, the police union president said the agreement Williams signed shouldn’t have applied to Buscher’s file because, as a member of the command staff, he does not belong to the union.

Ward 8 Ald. Kris Theilen said the city has little choice but to settle.

“It still leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but financially it makes the most sense,” Theilen said.

He said he believes the city was right in denying Christian’s request for all police internal affairs records as “unduly burdensome” and that a judge erred in allowing the case to proceed. However, he said those who were involved in destroying records acted improperly, and “there should be ramifications.”

Theilen said he hopes an ongoing Illinois State Police investigation will bring to light the identities of those individuals.

Whoever took police records that were later leaked to WICS Channel 20 also should be punished, he added.

“No one did the right thing in any of this,” he said. “This is one giant mess from the beginning to the end, and, unfortunately, the city’s going to have to pay for it.”

Losing proposition

Ward 9 Ald. Steve Dove said he also favors settling.

“To me it would be ridiculous to cost the taxpayers money on a lawsuit we know we’re going to lose,” Dove said.

However, he said he also would support asking another outside party, aside from the state police, to investigate. “I think it has to happen, personally,” Dove said.

Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin wrote in an email that the proposed settlement results from “serious FOIA violations and reckless judgment” by city officials. He said the mayor owes the public “an explanation and needs to administratively discipline those responsible.”

“Failure to do so gives the appearance the Administration is sweeping responsibility under the rug,” McMenamin said.

Ward 5 Ald. Sam Cahnman asked at Tuesday’s city council committee of the whole meeting that the administration release to aldermen copies of the transcripts from all the depositions that were taken in the case.

Houston told reporters after the meeting that he is awaiting the outcome of the state police investigation to determine the appropriate penalties for anyone involved.

State police spokeswoman Monique Bond confirmed Wednesday that the agency’s investigation is ongoing.

The corporation counsel’s office turned over “voluminous records in electronic format” in mid-September, Bond wrote in an email.

“The Illinois State Police has been reviewing these documents, and has met with the Corporation Counsel’s Office to discuss their document production,” Bond said. “The Corporation Counsel’s Office has been cooperative in the investigation, and additional documents are forthcoming.”

Information

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